Iran to launch two satellites in 2010

After signing an agreement to promote cooperation in the field of telecommunications, Iran and Russia prepare to launch two satellites in the coming year.

Iran’s Minister of Telecommunications Reza Taqipour visited Moscow late in April to ink a memorandum of understanding for broader telecoms cooperation with his Russian counterpart Igor Shchegolev.

Mohammad Hosseinpour, a senior advisor to Taqipour, told the Mehr News Agency on Monday that if everything went according to the plan, the two telecommunications satellites would be launched by year’s end.

The new satellites, which are designed and produced to decrease telecom traffic between Russia and Europe, will be equipped with filming applications and data-image transmission sensors.

After launching its first home-produced satellite, named Omid (Hope), in February last year, Tehran has unveiled three new satellites and a satellite carrier, Tolou, Mesbah II and Navid respectively.

Iran is one of the 24 founding members of the United Nations’ Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS), which was set up in 1959.